Final position — White is winning
Petrov's Defence: Nxf7 Sacrifice
White wins in 6 moves with a decisive material gain. (Dekker - Copier, Haarlem 1996)
The moves
| 1. | e4 | e5 |
| 2. | Nf3 | Nf6 |
| 3. | Bc4 | Be7 |
| 4. | Nxe5 | d6 |
| 5. | Nxf7 | Qd7 |
| 6. | Nxh8 |
How the Petrov's Defence: Nxf7 Sacrifice works
The Petrov's Defence: Nxf7 Sacrifice is a classic chess opening trap arising from the Petrov's defence. In this line White wins decisive material by move 6, punishing a natural-looking but losing idea from Black.
The full sequence runs 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nf6 3.Bc4 Be7 4.Nxe5 d6 5.Nxf7 Qd7 6.Nxh8. Each move looks reasonable, which is exactly why the trap is so effective over the board — Black walks into it while trying to play "normal" developing moves.
This pattern is well known from master and correspondence play (Dekker - Copier, Haarlem 1996). Recognising it early lets you either spring it as White or sidestep it as Black.
Practice this trap move-by-move
Open the Petrov's Defence: Nxf7 Sacrifice in the Trapsterapp to play it out on a live board, drill it in practice mode, and learn how to avoid it when it's set for you — along with the full library of chess traps and gambits, fully offline.